By Jim O'Sullivan

Three dramatic deaths in the last 10 days have overshadowed decreases in Dorchester's crime statistics.

Violent crime rates have dropped in all three Dorchester police districts, according to figures released by the Boston Police Department. The statistics, which include all of 2001 and 2002 and the first six months of this year, project a significant decrease in homicides and rapes.

Overall crime statistics in Boston are down, according to numbers compiled by the BPD, with homicides numbering 26, 11 fewer than at the same date last year.

Numbers for Area C-11, all of which lies in Dorchester, suggest an upswing in reported shootings this year, a projection mirrored anecdotally by a rash of recent gunplay in the neighborhood.

Area B-2, in Roxbury and the Uphams Corner section of Dorchester, reported 59 shootings in 2001, 45 in 2002, and 16 through June of this year. Figures for Area B-3, in Mattapan and neighboring parts of Dorchester, show 43 shootings in 2001, 31 in 2002, and 14 in the first six months of 2003.

Recent apprehensions of "impact players" have been feathers in the caps of law enforcement officials, who speak of cautious optimism in the progressive statistics.

But Dorchester streets have seen two 15-year-olds and one 27-year-old father die in the past week, a spate of incidents that C-11 Captain Thomas Lee said exacerbates the public's worries over local crime.

"I think this is a case of a couple high-profile crimes that obviously concern police as well as residents. I wouldn't say it's a trend or a pattern or anything like that," Lee told the Reporter.

"It's tough for people to realize that, overall, things are much better this year. When we have high-profile incidents, it raises the public alarm."

Lee said that a department-wide crackdown on "quality-of-life" crimes such as trespassing and motor vehicle infractions has led to significant inroads in preventing violent crime.

"We concentrate on the small things believing that's going to have an effect on the larger picture of crime," Lee said.

But while the trend might be toward a let-up in crime, and while the brisk pace in illegal activity that tainted June and early July seems to have eased, three fatalities within the past week have sparked intense media coverage and ratcheted up neighbors' safety concerns.

Around 8:45 p.m. Sunday, police said, a group of youths approached 15-year-old Germaine Rucker at the corner of Dudley and Wendover Streets, and fired several shots into the boy sitting on his bicycle.

Rucker was pronounced dead later at the Boston Medical Center.

"Something needs to be done with Wendover St.," said Fernando Bossa, assistant director of the Uphams Corner Main Street program. "More policing needs to be done in that corner."

Bossa suggested placing an undercover detective in one of the businesses along Dudley St., where a drug sting operation in March netted 36 indictments, mostly of low-level operators.

"I don't believe they're anywhere close to an arrest or anything," said one law enforcement source, who asked that his name not be used.

B-2 Captain Albert Goslin did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article.

Another 15-year-old, Paris Booker, was taken off life support last week after being struck July 31 by an SUV allegedly driven by 26-year-old Joao Depina in what authorities are calling an accident.

Booker, a 15-year-old Dorchester youth headed for Charlestown High in the fall, was riding his bike on Topliff St. near the intersection of Homes Ave., when Depina's vehicle struck him and then sped from the scene, according to prosecutors.

Depina, who turned himself into police the day after the incident, faced an initial charge of leaving the scene of an accident; the charge was upgraded to "leaving the scene of an accident causing death" after Booker was removed from life support August 5.

Lee and David Procopio, spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, said the hit-and-run collision was being treated as an accident, but that investigations are ongoing.

Depina was freed on $2,500 cash bail on August 4 and is due in court on August 19 for arraignment on the new charge, which carries a minimum mandatory sentence of one year and a maximum of 10 years.

Until his arraignment next week, Depina has been granted permission to leave the state, after his lawyer said the Dorchester man was in danger. Depina was attacked last week by "people associated with the [Booker] family," according to Lee.

"I don't have any information that there will be further incidents," Lee said. "It's obviously something that we will be keeping an eye on, because he was assaulted."

Procopio said Depina signed a waiver of rendition, which allows Massachusetts authorities to retrieve him from another state without going through the customary hearing process. Procopio said Depina was in Rhode Island and not considered a flight risk.

Early last Thursday morning, Karim Harris was slain on Ashmont St. in an incident that also injured a nearby 17-year-old boy who apparently was struck by a stray bullet.

Police said they believed Harris's murder was the third in his family in the last decade, with two cousins also shooting victims.

Lee said that Harris, a father of one, was "targeted." The C-11 commander sought to soothe fears that the usually-quiet neighborhood was infested with crime.

"I don't think there's an actual connection to the Ashmont Hill neighborhood," said Lee. "I think it just happens to be that that's where they found him."

Lee said Harris's death was an "isolated incident" but possible acts of revenge are "under investigation."

"I wouldn't tie this into anything that's going on in the district," Lee said. "But we're always worried about payback when we see this type of incident."

Sandra Duran, president of the Ashmont Hill Association, said that neighbors were "saddened' by the incident, but said police have assured them that it was not a random crime. Duran is organizing a community meeting for next week at the nearby library branch to discuss the incident with police.

"There's some worry that even in targeted incidents there can be random people hurt," said Duran. "A gunshot went through a neighbor's window."

Duran said Ashmont Hill's mood is resilient and upbeat despite the murder.

"People are sad that it happened, but no one's changing their life habits," said Duran.

Police are still conducting an investigation into the July 13 hit-and-run killing of Richard Miller outside the Ashmont Grille in Peabody Square, Lee said. Boston police "will reach out for more public support," Lee said, by asking for TV airtime to air a "crime stoppers" program seeking leads in the case.

"We think a number of people may have seen [the incident] driving by," Lee said.

Police said Miller was struck and killed after being dragged along the street by an SUV, and that the vehicle then sped from the scene.

In another incident still under investigation, vandals defaced St. Brendan's Church Monday night, spraypainting 666 in large numerals on the front of the Gallivan Boulevard church.

Lee said police were investigating and unsure of motives behind the graffiti.

Earlier this week, Boston police notched two arrests in the April murder of Jose Deveiga, a 22-year-old Dorchester man shot to death in his car at the intersection of East Berkeley and Albany St.

Procopio said Jose Lopes and Enrique Lopes, both 20 and from Dorchester, were arrested on charges of murder and possession of a firearm.

Jose Lopes turned himself in to police Tuesday night. Enrique Lopes was arrested Monday in Florida.

Procopio said he did not know whether the two were related.

A second victim in the shooting, 24-year-old Chris Carvalho, survived but remains paralyzed, Procopio said.

The spokesman refused to discuss further details of the ongoing investigation and would not comment on possible motives until Wednesday's arraignment, after the Reporter went to press.

"Obviously, there was a dispute between the group that the two Lopes men were involved with and the one that the victim was in," Procopio said. "Whether they're connected to any other violence in that community is something that we'd be interested in and something that the district attorney's office and Boston police would look into."

Bill Forry contributed to this article.